Oil Companies together with the Bush and Trump administration have kept the global warming debate alive long after most scientists believed that global warming was real and had potentially catastrophic consequences. We need to be aware and to change this policy before we get to the point of no return............Amor Patriae

ECOLOGY AND ENERGY PRODUCTION

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

ENDS OF THE ROAD

I've always been drawn to the end of the road, to the edges of where one might be allowed to travel, whether blocked by geographic features, international borders, or simply the lack of any further road. Gathered below is a virtual visit to a few of these road ends around the world -- borders, shorelines, dead ends and overlooks from New Zealand to Svalbard, from Alaska to South Africa.

It is one of America’s greatest natural wonders – a spectacular scar in the dusky soil of Arizona that ranks as one of the best-known landmarks on the planet.

Indeed, show most people a photograph of the Grand Canyon, and they should recognise it instantly – those steep cliffs falling away to the silver ribbon of the River Colorado far below; the Canyon walls dancing through a rainbow of pinks, reds, oranges and browns.

So it is rare to see photographs that capture this geographical glory in a less-seen light. But the images here manage that. The pictures show the less-visited Havasu Canyon, which flows north into the Colorado immediately to the west of the portion of the national park which plays host to the majority of tourists.

Havasu Canyon is part of the adjacent Havasupai Indian Reservation. And while it is also accessible to the public, it does not receive the footfall of the main national-park space.

The photos show a snapshot of waterfalls within this smaller canyon; the large, double-chuted Havasu Falls and the smaller Mooney Falls – as well as the almost hidden Royal Arch Creek Falls, which is part of Grand Canyon National Park.

All can be visited, although plenty of leg-work and hard hiking is required to reach the more off-path spots.

Scroll down for video

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Water at its most wonderful: This breathtaking image captures Havasu Falls - the main cascade on Havasu Creek in Arizona

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A different take on the theme: Depending on the volume of water, Havasu Falls splits into two distinct torrents

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Come take a look at all this beauty: Havasu Falls sits on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, but is accessible to the public

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One for the intrepid: Mooney Falls also lies within the Havasupai Indian Reservation - and offers a subtler form of beauty to the main Havasu Falls

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Beyond the obvious: Although the Grand Canyon is one of the most recognisable landmarks on the planet, it still offers corners and areas that can surprise

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Tucked away: The National Park Service describes Royal Arch Creek Falls as a 'top-drawer canyon adventure, replete with more natural beauty than humans can absorb'

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As it looks on a normal day: A more usual shot of the Grand Canyon, as seen by thousands of people every year

Yellowstone, the first national park in the world, was established by the U.S. Congress in 1872 and has welcomed millions of visitors in the 139 years since. Last year, Yellowstone recorded its highest number of visitors ever, as some 3.6 million people passed through its gates. Its well-known geothermal features -- geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles -- owe their existence to the massive Yellowstone Caldera, a 45-mile-wide volcanic system beneath the park. Tourists are also drawn to Yellowstone's hundreds of species of wildlife, massive waterfalls, and incredible vistas. Collected below are a few recent views of Yellowstone National Park.

A rainbow appears at the base of the Yellowstone River Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, on June 21, 2011.(Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

View of the "Morning Glory" hot spring with its unique colors caused by brown, orange and yellow algae-like bacteria that thrive in the cooling water, turning the vivid aqua-blue to a murkier greenish brown, in Yellowstone National Park, on June 2, 2011.(Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) #

A gray wolf and its nursing pups are pictured in Yellowstone National Park in this photograph obtained on May 4, 2011. Federal protections for some 1,200 gray wolves in Montana and Idaho officially ended on May 5, under unprecedented legislation passed by Congress last month removing them from the endangered species list. (Reuters/National Park Service) #

Oil Companies together with the Bush and Trump administration have kept the global warming debate alive long after most scientists believed that global warming was real and had potentially catastrophic consequences. We need to be aware and to change this policy before we get to the point of no return............Amor Patriae

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he was given. But up to now he has not been a creator, only a destroyer. Forest keep dissapearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined, and the land grows poorer and uglier everyday.....Anton Chekhov

Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, P.A.

From morning till noon he repealed charge after charge tenaciously with a handful of men through the heat and agony of battle till he fell dead among his slained soldiers, On this mountain summit overlooking the plains and shores of his country a massive tremendous altar......